Month: July 2001

It sucks for one reason, too… There’s nothing to focus all the energy on.The political scene is awash with moderate positions and painted with a thick coat of gray. Poloticians are no longer perceived as evil-doers… instead they’re just guys who eat McDonalds and get blow jobs at work. Back when punk didn’t suck (the 80’s), there was an easily identifiable bad guy who walked the walk and talked the talk. He wanted you to hate him. He made it easy to be a punk.

1. I, Bill Grady, played guitar for The Suspects from the bands’ inception in 1993 through the final show in 2002.
2. I wasn’t the band’s manager, but I did 90% of the dirty work. I booked shows, a tour, handled $$$, did the web site, made flyers, etc…
3. I wrote these rules in 2001. 2001!
4. So, shut up!

1. Ska-punk, punk-ska, or anything like that is OVER.
Kids, don’t embarrass yourself. The whole “ska in the verses and punk in the choruses” song writing formula is so overdone it’s not even funny. Few bands do it well, and you probably don’t belong to any of them.

2. Don’t wear suits on stage. Or to shows, either.
Actually, if you can go out and spend $400 on a really sweet sharkskin jacket and not feel bad about getting up under the stage lights or wearing it in the pit, go ahead and wear a suit. But if you plan on going down to Value Village, you’re best staying at home.

3. You don’t need five horns in your band.
Seeing half a dozen second chair, second band, high school punks up on stage not being able to play some dorky RBF-style unison part is absolute torture… visually and aurally. Less is more!!!

4. Don’t try to record your poorly written songs until somebody really asks for them (and I don’t mean your mom or your girlfriend!).
You just started a ska band two months ago, you’ve got five songs written, and you’re going to play a Tuesday night at Fitzgeralds next month… well, you obviously need a CD. NOT! Save everyone (especially the guy who has to record you) a big headache by waiting until your songs have a little mileage on them… a good song gets better the more you play it.

I kind of like the way that we all stay off each other’s backs. When you have a tight, organized scene, you’re bound to have a group of people that controls the action and a group of people who are outside that action. People are denied access to the groupthink, rival sub-scenes are formed, SCENE WARS break out… how lame. Thanks to the laid-back attitude we all seem to have here in Houston, practically noone feuds wit anyone else. Mixed-genre billings at clubs (all though a bit disorganized) let club patrons enjoy a great variety of talent, allows influences to be spread between different musicians, and keeps it all (mostly) clique-free. Let’s hear it for us!